MADELEINE PEYROUX

Every great musical project starts with a feeling that it’s time.

So it was, in 2004, for Madeleine Peyroux: “when I got around to making Careless Love it had been a good eight years since my first album.” Eight years—forever in the music world. Not long After Dreamland dropped in ’96, she had disappeared from the touring scene as well. Where had she been? What had she been doing, and why?

I was traveling a lot across America, rediscovering the country and re-identifying as an American. I was born here in the States but moved with my mother to live in Paris when I was young. I met family I never met before. I caught up on what was happening with the music here. It was all a culture shock for me. When I came back to New York to make that first album I was like a deer in the headlights. It was my first time in a studio, my first time back in America. Then 9/11 happened. Then George W. got re-elected. It was like the world was going crazy. After Dreamland I had signed with Sony and I was trying to make my second record. I was broke and I didn’t know what I was going to do next.

Self-reflection and spiritual sensitivity are assets to any musician in the process of starting a career, of establishing one’s musical identity and direction. They don’t, however, necessarily lock into the typical velocity of career-building. There were other things Peyroux had to handle. She underwent surgery on her vocal cords. She healed and worked with a vocal coach. As the ‘90s gave way to the first years of a new century, she continued to question the how and, significantly, the why of what she was doing. (Her choice of the Dylan Thomas quote below, from his 1946 poem “In my Craft and Sullen Art,” helps explain her creative motivation.)

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CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE’S NEW JAWN

Christian McBride is an eight-time GRAMMY Award winning bassist, composer, and bandleader. McBride is the Artistic Director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, New Jersey Performing Arts center (NJPAC) and the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Christian is also a respected educator and advocate as the Artistic Director of Jazz House KiDS, and the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions. In addition to consistent touring, McBride hosts NPR’s “Jazz Night in America” and “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM. Whether behind the bass or away from it, Christian McBride is always of the music. From jazz, to R&B, pop/rock, hip-hop/neo-soul, to classical, he is a luminary with one hand ever reaching for new heights, and the other extended in fellowship—and perhaps the hint of a challenge—inviting us to join him.

Doors ~ 6:30pm

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The Jazz Voyager

The friendly skies beckon once again for a continental flight to that well known city by the bay. San Francisco, California is the destination for the Jazz Voyager, specifically Oakland to one of my favorite hangs, Yoshi’s. With the larger space and expanded Japanese menu it quickly became one of the premiere jazz venues on the West Coast.

Having not seen him for more than a decade, I am looking forward to seeing Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter, one of the male vocalists who came along to fill in the void with an individual sound. He is joined by 7 & 8 string guitarist Charlie Hunter as they bring Superblue to the stage.

Yoshi’s is located at 510 Embarcadero West, 94607. Get more info by visiting the Jazz Calendar at notoriousjazz.com/event/superblue-kurt-elling-and-charlie-hunter

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The Jazz Voyager

The Jazz Voyager is leaving Ohio for the Big Apple and the upper West Side where jazz hits nightly at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club. Located at the junction of 106th and Broadway also known as Duke Ellington Boulevard, it is one of New York City’s premier live music venues renowned for programming legendary performers, modern masters, and rising stars.

This week they present George Cables, one of the essential pianists with impeccable sound, sensitive accompaniment, and original playing. A trusted collaborator over the past 50 years for artists like Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, and Art Pepper, Cables has also released numerous recordings as a leader.

The venue is situated at 2751 Broadway, New York City 10025. Get more info by visiting the Jazz Calendar at https://notoriousjazz.com/event/george-cables-quartet-2

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The Jazz Voyager

With vocals in my spirit and a penchant for Ohio, this Jazz Voyager is staying out of the air and renting a car for a leisurely three and a half hour drive from Akron to Cincinnati, Not only will I experience a new venue but I get to see an old friend and Clevelander I haven’t seen in a while. This week the voyage takes me to Caffeè Vivace when one of my favorite vocalists, Vanessa Rubin, will take the stage.

If you’ve never heard this amazing interpreter of a song perform, you’re in for a treat. She will take you places your heart hasn’t been in a while, make you laugh with her playfulness on a lyric and will send you home remembering when love was new.

This coffee house by day turns into an intimate jazz lounge by night providing a space for Cincinnatians to gather, work, socialize and herald the musical art form of Jazz. Founded by Brent Gallaher and Vanessa Keeton, their goal is to bring a full-time jazz listening venue back to the Queen City. So the pair, coffee and jazz, have a symbiotic relationship that works well for the city’s residents and visitors to Walnut Hills. I’ll be hanging out for a couple of days to write and listen to the area’s finest local jazz musicians.

The venue is located  975 E McMillan Street 45206. You can get more information by visiting The Jazz Calendar at https://notoriousjazz.com/event/vanessa-rubin-6.

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